Agricultural and Technical State University - Ayantee Yearbook (Greensboro, NC)

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1968 AYANTEE Published By NORTH CAROLINA AGRICULTURAL AND TECHNICAL STATE UNIVERSITY Jack Canales Blake, Editor

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THE CHALLENGE The challenges of our society have taken on many forms in accord with the complex era in which we now live. In a time so pregnant with change and social innovations, coupled with revolutions, one must he well equipped to adjust to the rapid rate of change and the ever-present challenge of acceptance or rejection. The degree of acceptance or the nuinner of rejection is based on one ' s ability to understand the problems that confront him. Today. as in the pasl. we are challenged academically; but the challenge is much greater now than it has ever been. With tremendous emphasis being placed on one ' s formal training in determining the type of job that he is able to get. along with his position and starting salary, it becomes increasingly important that one take seriously all of his academic endeavors. The academic challenge goes even further. Educational opportunities are now open to all who will take advantage of them, causing the field of higher trained individuals to expand to its fullest. Truly, we have been cast into an age of competition. Only the fit — those who qualify to meet the challenge— shall survive! Academic conquests serve to prepare one to reason for himself, to be able to recognize an existing challenge, and to have access to an operational knowledge of the tools necessary to meet these challenges. Moreover, in a time of such diverse activities, it is not enough for one to be qualified to meet only the academic challenge. Today ' s society presents other challenges that never cease to question one ' s ability to adjust to the times at hand and to meet the needs of an ever-changing society. We are challenged socially to meet the changes in social institutions that have existed unquestioned for centuries. These new mores that have grown out of these changing institutions have brought with them new and more complex problems to be answered by society. The problems of society attendant to these changes can only be solved by excellence of social standards upheld by its members. A. and T. State University is striving to instill in its students the superiority of values that will equip them, not only to adjust to the changes in society, but to help innovate various social changes that will benefit the whole of mankind, and to take the knowledge gained here and use it to solve the conflicts that swell like earthquakes to wreck our great society. Still other challenges exist to test man ' s knowledge and skills. Politics and economics present constant challenges to us in choosing qualified representatives who also have progressive ideas, especially in matters of civil rights, taxation, and foreign policy. Political and economic institutions are very closely related, and each has an influential elTect on the other. Therefore, it is necessary for man to have an appreciable knowledge of the concerns of both the political and economic system of the society in which he lives. One should plan through preparation to enter the realms of political life and become active rather than apathetic. For the fiber of the nation will be changed by those who are able to meet the challenge. Man lives because he has something to cling to, something that interests him. or because he believes in a supreme being of power. As man ' s technological and scientific knowledge increases, his spiritual beliefs are challenged and questioned for validity. There is increasing doubt in one ' s mind as to the role of God in his life. Questions such as. Is there or was there a God? and Is God dead? constantly plague our society when man is only half educated. 7he University is fulfilling the need of training men to the extent that science and technology can be used to explain theology and to resolve many conflicts that have arisen between them in regards to the creation of the earth and man. Here at the University, we are engaged in a search for excellence and clarity that will enable us to accept the spiritual challenge with an open mind. No challenge has man so perplexed as the moral challenge. All of the challenges aforementioned have a decided effect on man ' s inner-self. With the advent of social, political, and spiritual changes, one is constantly confronted with the need to revise his moral code. Bui, in which direction should this revision flow — upward or downward? If one denies the existence of God, then he naturally has no concept of right or wrong; and he may sometimes act and react accordingly. The effect of changes in social institutions often drives one to wonder why he should adhere to any rules of society if they. too. shall at one time be changed and regarded as having been incorrect. The moral challenge too can be met by the academic, social, and personal otTerings of the university because it is geared to prepare a man to compete in a society of the highest technological skills so that he can stand erect, breathe, and swell with the confidence that he. the trained and educated man, is the supervisor of his soul and the director of his fate. In addition to refining its students and making of them well-rounded individuals academically, socially, spiritually, and morally, the University concentrates its efforts in the building of strong bodies and patriotic minds and hearts in its male population. These men go forth into life prepared to uphold the ideals of their country and to protect it from those who would destroy its way of life. This is accomplished through the Air Force and Army Reserve Officer Training Corps programs. Thus, the A. and T. State University prepares the whole man. Its five schools and two divisions are alt engaged in the finest preparation in their respective fields. Training is offered to meet all of the needs of society with competence. No one man is equipped to do so; but by training many men in different fields, the University sends forth into society a heterogenous aggregate with each member a specialist in one area but with the trained intellect to allow him to respect his fellowman for his skills and abilities. A University through whose doors men enter just men but leave great men prepared to face the oncoming tide of life with intellectual fortitude and ready to infiltrate the ranks of society is the A. and T. Slate University. The fruits of education are the music of life — let education be a challenge! 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AYANTEE STAFF If you were busy doing good. And doing just tiie best you could. You wouldn ' t have time to blame some man Who ' s doing just the best he can. — Author Unkown. Each year the AYANTEE Staff has fol- lowed tradition in compiling materials for the annual. With a new working crew as well as a new advisor, multifarious ideas emerged; and at the point of a pen and the touch of the typewriter, these ideas have been depicted in the 1968 AYANTEE. Numerous hours of chaotic toil have been devoted to the task of bringing to the A. and T. family a collection of the more memorable events of 1967-68. We realize that we are not able to please everyone with these presenta- tions, but it is our desire to take care of the greater majority. WILLIE E. CURRIE, III AssocidW futitnr JACK C. BLAKE Etlilor-in-Chiff MRS C. H. COPELAND Ailiisor